Surround Sound
by Creign
Summary: Sakura is taken hostage at Hidden Sound Village and is forced to heal two of the Sound Five. There is a fine line between patient and morethanfriends though, and her favorite avenger thinks so too. Sakosaku.Sasusaku.
1. The Sound

**A/N: Revised. I resized the three chapters to two. Sorry for the weird time sequence.**

Summary: Sakura is taken as hostage at Hidden Sound Village and is used for her medical abilities to assist Kabuto. While there, she meets up with a shadowy figure of her past. Sasusaku.

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Naruto, he wouldn't wear orange.

* * *

**The Sound **

Sakura cursed and pushed off another tree branch. She looked behind her to check her pursuers' progress then returned her gaze to the trees ahead. They hadn't caught up yet, but they were gaining more land then she was leaving behind.

She had already depleted most of her chakra, so it was only a matter of time before the nins caught up. Her hand crept into the weapons pouch slung on her hip. Currently, she possessed two kunai, three shuriken, and one exploding tag- definitely insufficient for battle.

On top of that, the sun was starting to set, and even though she was a kunoichi, it was still hard for her to operate in darkness. She wasn't one of those super nocturnal people- like Kakashi.

She sighed. Today was not a good day. She was returning to Konoha from a simple guarding mission in the Land of Lightning and had barely passed the Land of Rice's border before she felt several shinobi presences following her. Apparently, they sensed her chakra and decided that she was a enemy nin.

Which she wasn't. Not today, anyway.

Usually, Sakura would simply wait for the ninja to catch up to her and flash her Leaf headband to show her alliance. All ally ninjas of Konoha would understand that she, as a leaf kunoichi, would not be dangerous to them. Unfortunately, the Leaf wasn't exactly friendly with the Sound, and she had a strong feeling that if she tried to flash her headband at them, they would probably have chopped her head off first. She was forced to continue escaping.

She tried to think positive- there was only one hundred and fifty or so miles until Fire country border.

Okay… not so positive.

Suddenly, a kunai flew out of the darkness of the trees. Sakura jumped out of the way a second before it would have impaled her and the metal embedded itself the maple behind her instead. She cursed again- they caught up faster than she expected. Things were looking down.

There was no way she could fight them, win, and still have enough energy to turn back into the Land of Fire. She had already used a lot of chakra for running through the trees.

Just as Sakura was beginning to panic, the presences of the Sound nins disappeared. Cautiously, she backed up against the trunk of the tree she was crouching on and waited for their next move.

A bird trilled somewhere behind her, and a long pause passed.

Logic dictated that the nins were preparing for a gang attack but the hopeful side of her thought they had decided she wasn't worth the chase.

No such luck.

By the time she realized they surrounded her, it was too late. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.

* * *

"… need help for Sakon and Ukon- they won't stop bleeding, and- Ah, hello Sakura-san."

Sakura groaned. She lifted her head up from what she judged by the hardness was the floor and surveyed her surroundings. She was in a dimly lit room covered with shelves that contained numerous scrolls and jars of mystery objects suspended and liquids. Just like in the movies with the mad scientists.

Sakura sat up on the floor and checked her body. Her hands were bound with their backs together, her chakra level was at the bare minimum and her weapons pouch was nowhere in sight. But besides feeling a little woozy, she was fine for the moment.

But wait. How come she wasn't chained up in a dungeon with the rest of the prisoners? They must want her for some reason.

She acknowledged the other two presences in the room. Standing in front of her was the traitor to the Leaf, Kabuto and behind him was a man clad in white that she didn't recognize. The man looked suspiciously like a surgeon.

A surgeon in a non-sterile environment. Uh-oh. Flashes of movies with mad scientists reigned havoc on her brain.

"How do you feel?" Kabuto asked. It was a rhetorical question, really. Like he gave a shit how she felt.

Sakura glared at the older man.

"Have you ever been knocked out, carried around for couple hundred miles, then had all your chakra sucked out of you?"

Kabuto smiled slightly but it wasn't a genuine smile. It was more like an I'm-going-to-eat-you-for-breakfast kind of thing. Ignoring her question, he turned towards the man in the back.

"You're dismissed," he quietly stated. The man nodded and walked out of the dark room. Sakura glimpsed a long and equally dark hallway before the door was shut.

"What do you want from me?" she asked Kabuto. Against her will, she still had a secure and safe feeling around him because of when he helped her team in the second stage of the Chunnin exams. She felt inclined to be as polite to him as he was to her.

It must be a Stockholm Syndrome thing.

Kabuto hesitated before answering, choosing his words to be as sparse and vague as possible. "We are in need of a medic and your skills deem appropriate for our purposes."

Sakura's suspicion was correct. She already suspected that Orochimaru wanted her to heal his arms and to finish the job that Tsunade refused. But fortunately or unfortunately, his arms were dead and no one can revive the dead. She debated whether or not to share this information with Kabuto. If she told him that she couldn't heal Orochimaru, she would most likely be killed. If she said she could and they found out later that she couldn't, she would still be killed. It all came down to when she wanted to die.

Just as she was about to open her mouth and announce that she accepted his offer, thinking that she would find a way to escape before Kabuto found out she was lying, he said, "Don't bother lying, we already know Orochimaru-sama's arms can't be healed."

Indignant that her thoughts were so clearly interpreted, she asked,"So what do you need me for? I'm not going to stay here as a hospital nurse if that's what you mean."

Once again, Kabuto chose his words carefully before answering.

"Do you remember the first retrieval mission for Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sakura winced. Of course she remembered- she had begged Naruto to bring her precious Sasuke-kun back and even cried about it. God, she was so ignorant back then.

"Yes," she replied.

"During that mission, Otokagure sent out five shinobi to intercept Konoha's and they were defeated by Shikamaru Nara's and Temari no Sabuku's teams. The Sound Five were presumed to have died in combat and were overlooked by Konoha ANBU sweeping for survivors. Unknowingly to them, our nins were still alive. Since all of them were in their cursed seal form during "death", Orochimaru's chakra kept them from passing on. They were in critical condition though and needed to be treated immediately. Our ninjas managed to retrieve their bodies and I put them in a temporary suspension so I could heal them one by one."

Sakura remembered Naruto and the others telling her about that battle. Many of the Genin on that mission had a hard time fighting with the Sound nins and would have been killed if the Sand nins didn't arrive in time. Neji had to undergo a mass healing jutsu and Tsunade herself had to heal Chouji.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Like I said- the suspension is only temporary. It has begun to wear off and the bodies are beginning to decay. Some of the bodies are beyond my skill level because the damage is too severe and requires too much chakra. If I begin the healing process and run out of chakra, the suspension would be broken. I need you to take this deal and heal the two bodies that are out of my league."

Despite the barrage of more important questions that needed to be asked, Sakura questioned, "Weren't there five? What happened to the other three?"

"Two I have already healed and one didn't make it." He didn't elaborate.

"And what if I said no, to this deal I mean?" she asked.

"That is not an option unless you want to die young. If I were you, I would just heal them and hope Orochimaru would let me go. The only other choice is death."

… Great. Do die or do the Sound a huge favor? She weighed her options.

If she remained loyal to the Konoha, she would be killed and the world would lose its best medic (she tried to be modest). On the other hand, if Kabuto couldn't heal them, it was probably a safe bet that it would take her a very long time to heal the bodies. That would give her enough opportunities to try to break out of this fortress. She didn't even have to finish healing them if she managed to escape. Besides, she knew Tsunade wouldn't want her to die.

So, ignoring the possibility that she may be executed for treason even if she did escape, Sakura made her decision.

"I'll do it."

In her mind, Sakura already began planning for the healing sessions. She would have to do it wound by wound and leave room for her chakra to replenish in the middle...

"Excellent decision," Kabuto congratulated her as if she won something.

_Look on the bright side- I just guaranteed my life another few days. Who knows? Maybe I will celebrate my seventeenth birthday! Maybe I'll even see Sas... _Sakura didn't let that thought continue. She abandoned all hope of him after that incident when they were fifteen when he almost killed Naruto. Even she knew when to give up.

Had Orochimaru already taken over his body? Despite her animosity towards the Uchiha, a jolt of fear ran down her spine at the thought of her former teammate being possessed.

No, she would get news of it if the body-switching jutsu had been preformed. Also, Konoha hasn't been attacked in almost five years. There was still hope that Sasuke was Sasuke.

"Let me show you the room you will be staying in during your stay here," Kabuto said, breaking her out of her muse. He walked to the door, clearly expecting her to follow.

Sakura, realizing that he had released the binding jutsu on her wrists, nodded to herself and followed him out of the room and into the hallway.

* * *

Sakura gasped.

It really was a sight to behold- two corpses lying on beds wrapped in bloodstained bandages. No, they weren't even corpse-like. At least dead bodies look like they had once been alive. These two looked like something straight out of a zombie horror movie. And she had to revive them.

_What if I can't do it? Will my chakra be enough? If Kabuto can't heal them it'll probably be hard for me too… Will I die here?_ For the second time in twelve minutes, a pang of fear ran through her.

How did she get into this predicament?

_After she had briefed on the terms of her capture, Kabuto led her out of the room with a lot of shelves and through a maze-like series of hallways lit by torches. Hallways she knew she would never be able to navigate herself._

How the hell am I going to get out of here?

_The thought ran through her head while she examined of all the possibilities. Abruptly, Kabuto stopped walking and Sakura almost smacked into him. She looked around him and saw that they had arrived at a closed door that blended in with the wall of the hallway in the darkness._

"_This is the recuperation room. You will be healing and monitoring the patients here until they regain consciousness and can stay in their own respective dormitories. Which reminds me. During your stay, you will rest…" Kabuto walked down the hallway a little further "…here."_

_He stopped at another identical wooden door. Sakura fervently hoped she wouldn't get lost in the Sound fortress. Now that she's seen the inside of this place, she was more concerned with finding the exit when the time came that she had to escape._

"_May I see the patients?" She inquired. Kabuto nodded and led her into the first door…_

Which brings her here. With the two half-decaying Sound nins.

"What is your plan for the healing?" Kabuto asked.

Sakura studied the bodies for a moment. Now that she entered her "professional mode" and looked past the blood, she can see that they were almost identical in appearances save the fact that their blood-matted hair was parted in different directions. She also noticed that no one had bothered to clean the bodies. There truly was no sympathy for the dead… or in this case- the half-dead-half-live.

She walked towards the nearer of the two which also happened to be the gorier and more mummy-like.

Since she couldn't see the wounds under the bandages, she drew chakra to the tips of her fingers and placed them on the body's forehead to examine them from the inside. She felt Kabuto watching her every move.

Of the internal systems, Sakura examined his nervous system first. The brain was working enough to have the normal body functions going, just enough to keep him alive. Most of the nerves have been numbed to keep him from feeling much pain, but when she examined the brain closer, she found there was more activity going on then she had first glanced. So he has some idea of what's going on around him…

Sakura looked through his skeletal frame and noted one fractured and one broken rib, a partially shattered shinbone, and a couple of fractures along his forearms. His muscular system was in shabby shape with numerous torn ligaments. There was also a low level of protein and cells- probably from lack of exercise and food. This prevented the body from healing itself.

Those wounds weren't what surprised her the most, though. All throughout his body, there were deep stab wounds that looked like they were infected judging from the high level of inactive bacteria around them.

Ouch.

Then checked his bloodstream, she found at least three different types of lethal poisons. Wait… she recognized those poisons. They were the ones that she helped Kankuro develop during her stay in the Sand.

Well, at least she had that going for her.

* * *

A/N: First chapter. Yes, yes I know Sasuke didn't appear in this chapter, but he will! Review please- you know you want to. TT3TT 


	2. Sakon

**A/N: **Revised and combined with the original chapter three. Thanks to beta fallen.angel.black.heart

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Naruto I would have awesome drawing skills. Which I don't. I don't have a lawyer either so don't sue me.

* * *

"You must have some kind of miracle jutsu for him to still be alive," Sakura stated recovering from her origional shock at the patient's condition.

Kabuto smiled at the commendation.

_So he takes well to compliments. Maybe if I suck up to him enough he can help me… _She dismissed that thought as soon as it came. She still hadn't forgotten that gleam of red in his eyes during the Chunin Exam: no one else had noticed it but her. At that time, she had assumed that it was from a cursed seal given to him by the snake. Which reminded her…

"Where's Orochimaru?"

"He left to attend to other matters in another country after he instructed me on what to do with you."

_So he's not here._ She felt a strong surge of joy and relief at the thought that the androgynous pedophile was off bothering some other country and not Konoha.

"… What about Uchiha Sasuke?" The million dollar question. Sakura was hesitant to show this weakness in front of Kabuto but she just _had_ to know if her former heart throb had been possessed. The apprehension was and had been killing her for years.

Back in Konoha, everyone other then the remaining Team 7 had forgotten about the Uchiha. He was a bad egg, the traitor who bought doom on the entire village and the reason for the Leaf's sudden drop in military power. He alone instigated an entire raid by one of the legendary Sannin. Because of him, Uchiha became the forbidden and shamed clan of Konoha.

Sakura and Naruto weren't obsessed with returning him to Konoha anymore because of the animosity towards him although they still hoped he would come back and repent for his sins. They hoped he still considered Naruto his best friend and Sakura his… what was she to him? Whatever measly relationship they had to each other was at best teammates. She pondered these new thoughts darkly.

Kabuto resisted the urge to smirk as he watched the various emotions flicker across the pink- haired medic's face. He vaguely recalled her being infatuated with the Uchiha during the time he was undercover in the Chunin exam. He watched as her expression finally settled on dread, probably of his answer as she waited for him to confirm the dark-haired boy's fate.

"Sasuke-sama is currently on a mission in Hidden Lightning." Kabuto watched Sakura who looked like Christmas had come early. _He's alive! He's alive! _Her inner persona did a little war dance while the outer Sakura just felt extremely relieved.

"Examine the other patient please." Kabuto sighed impatiently. He didn't have all day for her thinking about her love- he had scrolls to study and people to dissect.

She turned back towards the problem at hand- the second Sound nin.

She repeated the procedure of using chakra to "see" and found that his condition was slightly healthier then the previous. She ran down his body and noted what she found. _Fractured left ribs, broken humerus bones, fractured shin, bruises here and there, stab wounds, and semi-lethal poison. Pretty serious damage, but no infections._

"Kabuto, who would you prefer that I heal first?"

Said medicnin looked at the two bodies as one may regard a particularly unappealing piece of cheese. "The jutsu is starting to wear off and I used it on them separately. You should heal the one that died first. I also want to mention that when they are healed, we expect them to be in top physical condition and ready to fight. I will be at your service during the healing and training."

Amazing. Through all their trauma they were still expected to be soldiers.

"Judging from the Rigor Mortis and cell condition, he died first," Sakura pointed at the second nin she examined "I'll start with this one."

"Sakon? Do you require any background information on them for the healing?"

"Yes, thank you. That will allow me to know what to expect from their bodies," Sakura was surprised he had offered to help. Then again, he was probably forced.

Kabuto nodded and handed her a backpack, a clipboard, and a towel from the table behind him. She sifted through the pack and found that all her weapons- in the pouch and hidden- had been removed. _Darn, not even a senbon._

"We will begin the healing tomorrow. Please go to your room and lock the door. Meals will be brought to you at 7:30 am, 12:00 pm, and 6:00 pm. Do not wander past this hallway; I cannot guarantee your safety elsewhere," he paused in his mini- speech.

"I would not suggest trying to escape, Sakura-san- the consequences are quite brutal." And with that said, he walked out of the doorway. His statement hung ominously in the air.

Sakura sighed and, taking one last look at the bodies, followed him out and went into her room.

* * *

_What a long day. _

As Sakura reflected upon all that's happened in the last few hours, the panic started to set in. Drawing on previous training, she mentally prepared herself for the days to come. There was no doubt that her near future would be filled with exhaustion, gore, and Sound nins.

She lied on the bed staring at the ceiling of her small "bedroom". It was modestly furnished with a cot in one corner, a bedside table, a chair and a desk. There was a door that led what she had found out to be a small and (thankfully) clean bathroom. She hung the towel there next to a suspicious looking stain on the stone wall.

Another door next to the bathroom door led to what she assumed was the closet until she tried it and found it locked. There was probably a reason it was locked and she didn't feel like prying.

Sakura sighed and pondered her situation. She wondered how Naruto and the others were doing.

They probably have noticed her absence from her mission and were looking for her. Unfortunately, it was highly unlikely that they would suspect Orochimaru for the kidnapping due to his lack of activity in the past few years. Even if they guessed Sound nins abducted her, they would only have a vague idea of her location and it could take months before she was tracked down.

_And the worst part is: It'll probably take months to heal and train those two. What am I going to do with three months? I'll probably die from chakra exhaustion or boredom. What a great way to go- death by having nothing to do… The future isn't looking bright, Haruno. _

Sakura moaned and flipped on to her stomach pressing her face into the pillow. Unfortunately, she had to get up again in a few minutes due to lack of oxygen.

She decided to go over the information Kabuto gave her in preparation for tomorrow's healing.

* * *

Birds flew indignantly out of their nests on trees as a black-cloaked man flew past them.

The blur stopped for a second when it reached a particular tree then turned ninety degrees and dove into the undergrowth.

Uchiha Sasuke looked around and quickly spotted a cement staircase looking quite out of place on the leafy forest floor. He stalked towards it with pent up excitement, his eyes clashing fiercely with his cloak and hair.

The assassination mission assigned to him was extremely undemanding and one of the bodyguards had used a particular jutsu that he hadn't seen before. The missing-nin was eager to try out his new technique acquired with his Sharingan.

* * *

Sakura stretched as sunlight filtering out of a small window landed on her face. _What time is it?_ She sleepily looked at the clock on her bedside table- one of the few accessories in the room- and fell out of bed.

_6:49! I have to get ready. Kabuto will be here in 10 minutes and I have a feeling he won't be pleased when I'm still sleeping. _

Sakura rushed through her morning routine checking to make sure her hair wasn't sticking up and changed into her medic uniform. She stepped out of the bathroom right as a knock sounded on her door.

The door opened and Kabuto walked in balancing a tray of bland-looking food. He handed it to her eager hands. Tasteless as the food may be, she hadn't eaten since yesterday noon.

"Good morning, Sakura-san. Ready to get to work on the nins?" Kabuto clearly knew that it was _not_ a good morning and she was _not _ready to work on the ninjas but once again proved his fondness of rhetorical questions by asking anyway.

Sakura mumbled something incoherent through a mouthful of bread. She quickly washed it down with water and nodded at Kabuto. They stood up and Sakura grabbed the clipboard with some notes she took last night and the background information. She walked in the direction of the door Kabuto came in, fully expecting him to follow. To her surprise, he walked towards the locked door that she was had tried to open yesterday.

"This door connects to the recuperation room. This will allow you easy access to the two patients without having to walk through the hallways." Kabuto took out a key and unlocked the door.

Sakura assessed this new door. It would allow the patients full access of her room but would give her another escape path should her room's door fail. It would also be convenient during the healing process because it lessened the distance she would have to walk between her room and theirs while chakra-deprived. She decided that the door was useful.

She grabbed a chair and dragged it over to Sakon's bed. Kabuto followed.

She looked at the notes on her clipboard and decided to start the day with healing the skeletal injuries.

"Kabuto, can you brew an antidote for the poison in his blood? I'll start with his forearms and ribs."

Kabuto nodded and walked over to the wrapped and bleeding corpse for a blood sample. Sakura noticed Sakon got slightly bloodier overnight. He pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and held it under a bandage. When he pulled it out, it was filled and stained with crimson liquid.

_Normally, one would have to use a needle to withdraw the blood but in this case I guess an extra cut isn't necessary. _

Kabuto nodded to her and teleported to what Sakura assumed was his laboratory.

She turned to the unconscious Otokagure nin lying in front of her and got to work. She started by setting the forearm bones and then healing them. Her green chakra wove between and around the breaks urging the marrow to reform together. When she was done with the right bone, she turned to the left.

About two hour later, she noticed a difference in the healing. She had been repairing his knee when she felt a strange resistance to her chakra. Then she realized the brain activity had increased tenfold. _Shit, he's starting to wake up. _

That wasn't good. Healing an unconscious body was always easier then a conscious body since the patient's chakra had a natural resistance to foreign chakra. It would be a lot harder to heal him starting from now and she debated putting him under anesthesia to knock him out again. She decided against it since she was halfway through the shinbone and if she withdrew her chakra to inject the anesthesia, the half-mended bone would collapse under the new strain.

She continued her healing ignoring the prodding from the other chakra that was slowly increasing by the minute. She finally sat back when she finished the skeletal system, exhausted .

"I've already injected the antidote," Kabuto drawled. "How much have you healed?"

Sakura jumped. She didn't feel Kabuto's presence at all during her healing. She made a mental note to keep better note of her surroundings while healing. She noticed Kabuto's look and answered his question.

"I finished the major injuries. If you have already injected the antidote then the only things left to heal are the cuts and bruises."

Kabuto nodded. "I need to be somewhere during the duration of next week. I trust you can handle training Sakon when he regains consciousness? I will renew the suspension jutsu on Ukon-" he gestured towards the other body "- and you can heal him later." Kabuto didn't wait for a reply this time and teleported away.

_Oh joy. One and a half weeks of training a Sound nin with no other company. I better savor the moment now because he will awaken soon. _

Sakura pulled all her medical equipment into the duffle bag Kabuto gave her and was about to leave when a masculine voice called out "Who the fuck are you?"

Sakura's left eye twitched. So much for savoring the moment: the potty mouth who owned the world has just awakened. She turned towards the patient on the bed who now opened his dark emerald eyes and was miraculously propped up on an elbow.

"I'm your new doctor, physical therapist, and neighbor. It's nice to meet you too." That last comment was sarcasm. She was tired, cranky, and _really _not in the mood for cocky bastards.

* * *

Sakon observed his surroundings. After the cantankerous nurse left, he was left to the silence of the recuperation room and the beeping of the heart monitors attached to his brother.

_Niisan, we both survived. _Sakon mused.

He didn't remember anything after being stabbed in the arms and fusing with his brother's body. He remembered a boy and his dog, using the level two cursed seal, another boy with a fondness for face paint, and then it was all Ukon's memories.

The two brothers' Kekkei Genkai allowed them not only to share each other's bodies, but also their memories and feelings once activated. He remembered (or Ukon remembered) being trapped in a dark, stuffy barrel-like containment and then extreme pain and passing out. The last thing he saw before passing out completely was a large ritual drawing on the floor and Kabuto's chanting.

He almost wanted to die- to end his pitiful existence. There was really no reason to continue living. Before the Uchiha retrieval mission, he lived for his master. Now, he wasn't so sure. It was like a fog was sucked out of his head and he felt that everything he's ever done was completely useless to anyone but Orochimaru. This realization hit him right after he regained consciousness and saw what he assumed was the medic…

When, he was woke up to a pink-haired girl bending over a bag on her lap, he was sure he was nuts.

First of all, he hated pink. It wasn't natural, it wasn't right, and it disturbed him to know that some people had to live with the color pasted on their heads all their life.

Secondly, it reminded him of Tayuya, one of his teammates who had a fondness of calling him 'gay' or 'dipshit' or 'gay dipshit'. He wondered if Tayuya and his other teammates were alive too. He didn't really give a crap though.

Sakon went back to examining the medic girl and he realized her chakra signature matched the chakra that was currently flowing through him, continuing to0 heal his body even though it's user already stopped pumping it into him. This led him to his third reason why he was sure he gone insane- Sakon didn't recognize this medic.

He knew _all_ the medics in Otokagure due to many training wounds and accidents with Orochimaru but this one didn't ring a bell. _So she probably joined during the time I was unconscious… _Wait, that wasn't right. She was wearing a _leaf_ headband and he knew Orochimaru didn't allow new comers to wear the symbols of their old villages.

_So she was kidnapped…_ Sakon decided he needed to find out more about this medic but for now, he was thirsty.

"Oye, nurse! Get me some goddamn water!" His reply was a string of colorful curses. It was muffled by the door but he could still catch the words 'catatonic moron', 'not your servant', and 'fuck you'.

Sakon settled in a comfortable position on his bed and listened carefully, hoping to pick up a few new curse words.

* * *


	3. Of Pillows and Loans

**A/N: **Added a new section to this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any ninja-related manga.

* * *

**Of Pillows and Loans**

Sasuke strode down the stone corridor with the burning intention to get as far away from his sensei as possible. Sure the snake taught him a lot and had that whole evil complex thing going on, but Sasuke still tried to refrain from staying in the same room as him whenever possible. He didn't like the way the snake eyed him.

He had just finished delivering the scroll from his last retrieval mission to the snake and oh-so-politely demanded to be taught the Binding Jutsu he was shown last time. Unfortunately, Orochimaru was in one of _those_ moods. Sasuke shuddered at the thought as he finally came upon his dorm room at the end of the hall.

And he thought only females could PMS_…_

* * *

Sakura felt a presence hover over her. She mumbled something incomprehensible about not wanting to open her eyes and rolled over. _Maybe if I just will it to go away, it will. _She was mentally chanting "spontaneously combust" when she re-entered lala land. She was frolicking in the flowers, enjoying the sun… when something wet landed on her face and trickled behind her ears. Her sweet dream dispelled and she woke up to a mop of green hair sprouting out of a sadistic face. 

"Hey, Pinky- wake up." He watched unamusedly as she pulled herself out of bed and shook the water out of her face. Her six inch cowlick, gravity-defying bangs, and wet hairdo made her head resemble a flamingo.

"You bastard, I was sleeping," she grumbled. Her sleepy eyes focused on Sakon, who was holding an empty paper cup and had an evil look on his face. His green eyes reflected impatience, with her most likely.

She noticed that he had showered and pulled on a loose-fitting mahogany robe. A necklace of dark beads hung around his neck and a thick rope belt wrapped around his waist. The same kind of rope belt Sasuke had worn during their last meeting.

Sakura blanched and pushed him out of her mind.

"Stop lazing around and finish healing me."

Whatever happened to a regular 'Thank you'? That ingrate. She was glad that she didn't finish healing him. She had left his minor wounds unhealed to preserve chakra for the life-threatening ones but Sakon had broken so much of his body that even after her first session, he still shouldn't be able to stand up. Newly healed body parts need time to get stronger and support the rest of the human frame.

"Shouldn't you be in bed unable to move and groaning in pain? You just regrew five major bones and twelve torn muscle ligaments," she regarded him suspiciously. _He doesn't look wobbly…_

Sakon smirked arrogantly. "My Kekkei Genkai enables me to get used to new body parts quickly since my brother constantly resides in my cells. Anyway, hurry up and heal me."

She glared at him. "It's harder than _that_. I have to sleep to regain my chakra from yesterday's healing."

"I think you've slept long enough. It's already midday."

Sakura's eyes widened and shifted over to her bedside clock. He was right. Damn him.

She glared at him and made her trek to the bathroom. "You pry a guy from the hands of Death and he's causing you misery the next day."

* * *

Sakura sat back in her chair and whiped sweat from her forehead. She was finally done with the healing.She looked from the now fully healed Sakon to the brain-dead Ukon. One down, one to go. 

"Pinky, quit oggling my brother and train me."

She snapped and all her miseries of the past few days poured out.

"_Excuse _me? How about a little gratitude? I don't have an infinite amount of energy! First Kabuto makes me heal your rotting corpse! Then after I stabilize you, you make me finish healing _all _your wounds after _rudely _awaking me! And after I've depleted most of my energy, you want me to _train_ you? Well guess what- you better learn some patience 'cause I am NOT doing ANYTHING for you until at least tomorrow!"

She turned up her nose and got up from her stool in front of Sakon's bed. Then she marched into her bedroom and slammed the door shut. Turning back towards his room, she yelled "AND STOP CALLING ME PINKY!"

Honestly. The nerve of some people. Feeling slightly satisfied with her speech, she was making her way to the desk when she heard a voice.

"Touchy, aren't we?" Sakon was sitting on her bed and leaning against the wall. He had one leg bent and one stretched out. His arms were crossed and he looked for all the world like he owned the place. Which he did not.

"Intruder! Get out of my room!" Frustrated when he didn't move, Sakura dashed towards the nearest pillow on her bed and started to beat him with it. She used a pillow because she didn't want to punch him and ruin all that she had been working towards for the past few days, not because she was going soft or anything.

He raised an arm and flinched back from her attack. "You crazy lady- what the hell?" He scrambled off her bed and stood behind her. She was pleased to note his defensive posture as opposed to lazy, like before. She grinned maniacally. So that was what the therapists meant when they said "beat your anger out".

"That'll teach you to mess with me," she muttered, and feeling ridiculously pleased with herself, she turned back to her desk. She threw the pillow back on her bed.

Sakon, who did not like being blatantly ignored, redeemed his pride by reaching for the pillow she left on the bed and smacking her on the ear with it.

Stilled silence. Then-

"Hey, did I hit you too hard?" he asked. "Hello?" Pinky wasn't moving. Oh wait… now she was.

She was dead-eyeing him too. Oh he was so going to get it now.

Sakura reached for the other pillow on the bed and gripped it with both hands. She raised it above her head with both hands and with a war cry that Tarzan would be proud of, she let it come crashing down on his face.

Sakon parried the pillow-club with his own and side-stepped her. Then he lunged with his pillow and the two went all out in a flurry of limbs, pillows, and pastel hair.

Sakura, finally finding a vent for her recent frustrations, smaked at him like a woman with a mission. The two twirled and rolled and when they finally stopped, Sakura found herself underneath Sakon, who was straddling her.

Her face flushed. She started to squirm at their compromising position but Sakon didn't budge. He actually had the nerve to grin, that pervert. Angrily, she made him feel pain the only way she could in their current position.

"OW. What the fuck. YOU FUCKING BIT ME. OW." Sakon jumped up and gingerly examined the semicircle of teeth marks on his hands. Sakura stood up with pride, re-adjusted her hair, and returned the now battered pillows to her bed. Clearly, she had won this match, regardless of her under handed tactics.

"Hey. You don't have rabies do you?" Sakon asked.

She glared at him. "No more than you do."

The two exchanged mutual expressions of hate and Sakura sat down on her stool. Sakon returned to his previous position on her bed, although she noticed that this time he was hiding the pillows behind his back .

"I'm hungry. When do we eat?" Sakon whined.

"Well, Kabuto usually brings me lunch at twelve, but…" she checked the clock. It was one thirty. "He's late today. Oh right!" She suddenly remembered him yesterday talking about having to be somewhere. "He said he had to be somewhere this week so- oh." If Kabuto wasn't here, when _did_ she eat?

"So we have no food? That's great. Trust Kabuto to leave us starving." He got up and sauntered towards the doorway to the hall, which Sakura hadn't used since entering her bedroom for the first time with Kabuto.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked. .

"To get food, where else? Hurry up." He looked back over his shoulder at her.

Sakura looked at him, stunned. Did he just offer to buy her food? Was there a tiny shred of kindness in his heart? Despite her depressing situation filled with depressing people, she couldn't help but smile a little.

Sakura closed the door behind her and followed Sakon into the hallway. She assumed that they were going in the opposite direction of the hallway where she entered, but she really couldn't be sure since the stone halls looked exactly alike.

"Kabuto said he couldn't garentee my safety outside that room," she murmured uncertaintly.

Sakon rolled his eyes. "Are you a ninja or what? Fine. If you're so scared, _I'll _guarantee your safety."

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "I feel _so_ assured."

By the time they reached their destination, Sakura's head was spinning with all the twists and turns that Sakon navigated with ease. It was going to be a pain when she finally had to escape this place.

She noticed that the particular hallway they were in that seemed wider than the rest. She supposed they were nearing the heart of the fortress, and that it was a public area. She could make out voices further in the darkness.

"Where are we?"

"The dining hall," he answered and pushed open a door on his left. She followed him and beheld what may have been the biggest gathering of evil people (in her opinion) of all time. Just by looking at one of the long tables aligned in the room she spotted four faces that were in Konoha's Bingo book. Instinctively, she drew chakra into her hands.

Sensing her intentions, Sakon looked back at her without breaking his stride. He warned, "You don't want to start a fight here. These people get riled up easily and-" He was cut off by a tall man wearing a similar rope belt stepping in front of their path. However peculiar his clothes though, it was his six arms that Sakura gaped at.

"Hey Sakon, you're alive? Shit." The man eyed Sakon with a look of friendly distaste- kind of like how Naruto and Sasuke greeted each other.

"Lose a bet, Kidomaru?" Sakon asked nonchalantly.

"Sure. I actually _raised_ Suigetsu fifty that you wouldn't survive, but here you are blowing away all my cash." Kidomaru turned his attention towards Sakura. "Hey, who are you? What's with the leaf headband?"

Sakon answered for her. "She's my new nanny."

Twitching and feeling belittled, she corrected him. "I'm his new kidnapped slave-slash-doctor-slash-neighbor."

Kidomaru glanced between them. "Whatever. You guys wanna eat? The special is miso ramen today."

Sakon shrugged and they seated themselves on a table in the corner. Sakon and Kidomaru each pulled a menu from a plastic stand on the table and began to read. Sakura, meanwhile, looked around the cafeteria for a possible escape route, namely an emergency exit. The chances were slim, but most of the cafeterias in Leaf had one in case of kitchen fires.

Her gaze traveled from the alcohol island bar, to the stone walls, to the high ceiling. The entire room was lit by three enormous chandeliers that dangled periously from chains attatched to the ceiling. It had a dramatic feel to it, but that didn't help at all when it came to emergency exits. So far, she couldn't spot any.

Dejectedly, Sakura tugged at a menu for herself and glanced at it.

She zoomed in on the curry rice lunch, and her eyes followed the row of dots across the page to the price column. That was when she realized that she didn't have any Sound currency. She was so used to eating her meals for free that she had forgotten to ask Kabuto to exchange any emergency currency for her.

Uh-oh. She would have to loan. She turned to the only semi-friend she had made in Sound and poked him in the arm.

"Teme, lend me some cash."

"As kindly as you have phrased your request, I'll have to decline." Sakon stole a sadistic glance at her agitated face.

"Come on! I'll repay you as soon as Kabuto gets back," she whined. Hey, she was hungry.

"No." The bastard looked almost amused.

"That's not fair! I saved your life!"

"Only because yours was on the line."

She paused. He had a point.

She turned towards Kidomaru, but before she could open her mouth, he grunted "No."

Undeterred, she looked around the cafeteria for a friendly face to loan money from (as if). That's when she noticed them.

A group of burly men were crowded around the end of a table, shouting insults and praise, but the thing that caught her attention was the pile of green stacked by them. Jackpot- cold hard cash.

"What are they doing over there?" she asked Sakon while pointing at the group. He barely glanced up before returning his attention to the menu.

"That's the arm wrestling competition that they hold every Sunday."

"How is it organized?" She asked him, clinging on to his every word.

"The rules are pretty primitive. The one who defeats the reigning champion from last week's competition gets the prize that's set out by the betters."

"And what's the prize?"

"That pile of money you see by them... Hey, you need money right? Why don't you enter and try to win?" he asked sarcastically.

She grinned and started to make her way towards the arm wrestling table. "I think I will."

"I was kidding." Eying her thin arms, he added "You probably couldn't even muscle your way to the center of the competition."

Sakura shot him a withering glance over her shoulder and continued her way towards the wrestlers.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Sasuke glared irritably at the group of men in front of him. 

"Come on, scrawny. Stop acting so tough just 'cause you're Orochimaru's whore," the more hairy of the two sneered.

"Yeah! Show us what you've got, Sas-_gay_!" another jeered.

Sasuke pinched his nose bridge. This was why he never ate in the cafeteria- there were always new ninjas here who were ignorant of his status. He debated punching the hairy human wall blocking his path, but decided against it because then the whole cafeteria would get riled up.

"Just win one competition!"

"If you're as strong as they say you are, this is cake!"

Sasuke closed his eyes and walked away from the arm-wrestling competitors, letting their insults slide off his back. He sat down on a stool in the sushi bar and reached into his yukata for his wallet. He felt nothing but lint.

Oh shit. He had left his wallet in his room.

He resisted the urge to smack himself and reluctantly got up to exit the cafeteria. As he passed the group of arm wrestlers, the smart remarks started again.

"Leaving so soon? Wassda matter? To sissy to handle the game?"

Sasuke willed himself to walk away, but then he noticed the stack of bills next to the competitors. An idea hit him... maybe he _would _join for a little arm wrestling today.

He pushed his way into the throng of men and seated himself across from last week's champion. Sasuke grimanced when he saw who it was.

"Suji."

Suji was one of the captains of Orochimaru's assasination squads, but the man held no inhibition from his title. He took every opportunity to flaunt his status and his muscles.

The man across from him nodded and smirked arrogantly. "Uchiha-sama," he bit out.

Sasuke sighed and rested his elbow across from Suji's in the starting position. The cheap wood of the table bore many memories of muscle-ridden men's egos deflating and inflating through a primitive competition of strength. The two red leather pads on either side of their hands that served as bases were cracked from age and chakra, proof that when it comes to the Sound, the only rules obeyed were to win. Sasuke had no doubts that this wrestling match with Suji would be as ridden with cheating as the previous matches, and his suspicions were confirmed when Suji clamped a chakra-covered fist over his own.

The referee, a portly man with a whistle, centered their fisted hands over a line on his table, and shot a discreet look at Suji. Obviously, the two were in league. "Ready...?" He suddenly let go of their hands. "Begin!"

And before Suji could even use the chakra glove on his hand, or the crowd begin to throw out insults, Sasuke alreadly pushed Suji's hand onto the pad that signaled his victory.

* * *

Sakura pushed her way through a throng of men exchanging cash and hateful glances. Obviously Sound nins wren't experienced gamblers, like her Shishou. 

"Come one, come all!" a squat man whom she judged to be the referee advertised to the crowd. "Challenge our champion and win our weekly prize of fifty hundred ryo!" It seemed to her that the crowd was reluctant to accept his challenge, so the challenger must be strong. She didn't care though- she needed _food_!

"I would like to challenge him!" she called out.

Three dozen pairs of curious eyes swiveled over to the pink-haired girl who only came up to their waist. The referee eyed her skeptically. "You're joking. Go back home."

Sakura, who was used to being looked down upon because of her build and hair, defiantly stuck out her chin. "I _said_ I would like to challenge him."

"And _I _said no!" the referee eyed her dismissively, then turned her attention back at the crowd. "Any other takers?"

The crowd jeered, but no one stepped up.

"Come on, don't be such a prick. Give her a shot," a voice drawled from behind her. The referee looked at the person behind her, stunned. She followed his gaze see Sakon leaning against the table in all his green glory. He grinned at her evilly. Damn. The challenger must be _really_ strong for Sakon to pit her against him because she knew Sakon didn't give a rat's ass about her getting rejected, he only wanted to see her lose.

"Two hundred ryo says she'll win in a minute," he continued.

The referee looked stunned at his appearence. "S-Sakon-sama," he stuttered,"...you're alive?" Then he straighted up. "Well, if you say so then the pink-haired girl can compete. Place your bets now!" he finished.

The crowd, many of whom were eager to win back their previously lost bets, roared and charged at Sakon with fistfuls of cash.

"You're on, Sakon-sama!" some shouted.

Sakon-sama? What the hell? Sakura shrugged. Who cared about his status? As long as she gets the chance to beat this challenger's ass and get herself some _food_.

She pushed herself into the writhing crowd, and finally got to the table in the center. Then she looked up at her competition and almost fainted.

"Sasuke-kun..."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry if Kidomaru is OOC, I haven't actually watched the episodes he's in. R&R. Happy Holidays, folks. 


End file.
